Wednesday, March 16, 2005

No Matter the Length of Punishment it’s not Enough

From a single crime know the nation.
Virgil (70–19 BC), Roman poet.

Bernard Ebbers, the former chief executive of Worldcom, was found guilty in federal court of orchestrating a record $11 billion fraud. I certainly hope he is sent away for the rest of his natural days. Additionally, it would be nice to repossess some of his ill-gotten gains.

To many of the tens of thousands of WorldCom workers who lost their jobs and savings when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002, the verdict might bring some satisfaction, but no relief.

From the article in the New York Times, "The verdict represents justice, but not restitution," said Stephen Vivien, a WorldCom employee from San Carlos, Calif., who lost $250,000 in his 401(k) account when the company went bankrupt. "Great, he's going up the river. But the way pensions are treated in America, employees and their pensions are still vulnerable."

Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.
Agatha Christie (1891–1976), mystery writer

1 comment:

Chandira said...

ELEVEN frikkin' BILLION????